In the QCE system, summative internal assessment instruments for all General and General (Extension) subjects and Essential English and Essential Mathematics must be endorsed (approved) by QCAA before they are administered with students.
Watch the video: Endorsement — quality assuring school-devised assessments to learn more.
Endorsement process
Each school develops and submits three summative internal assessment instruments to QCAA for endorsement. Assessment instruments are developed in the assessment templates provided in the endorsement application, accessed in the QCAA Portal. The QCAA provides instrument specific quality assurance tools to help schools check their assessment before they submit it for endorsement.
Application 1
At the scheduled endorsement meeting for each event, QCAA assessors (endorsers) evaluate each assessment instrument and decide whether it provides evidence of the endorsement criteria. Endorsement decisions are based on the demonstration of two of the attributes of quality assessment — validity and accessibility.
QCAA assessors for endorsement use the instrument-specific Assessment evaluation to determine whether the assessment instrument meets the requirements for endorsement. Schools receive an Endorsement decision at the close of this process, which provides the official endorsement outcome for each submitted assessment instrument.
If an assessment instrument is not endorsed, QCAA provides directives to the school on the changes required, and information about the process and timeline for resubmission for Application 2.
Assessment instruments that have not been submitted by the due date for Application 1 will automatically be assigned to Application 2.
Application 2
If the summative internal assessment instrument is not endorsed after the first application, schools must follow the directives given in the Endorsement decision before applying internal quality assurance processes and submitting a second application for endorsement. Schools can consult with the lead endorser who evaluated the assessment instrument to seek clarification about the endorsement directives, if required, via telephone or email.
The assessment instrument is evaluated once again using the instrument-specific Assessment evaluation and the school is provided with the Endorsement decision. Once the assessment instrument is endorsed it can be administered to students, when appropriate.
If the assessment instrument is not endorsed at Application 2, endorsement intervention strategies are used to support the school to meet requirements for endorsement.
Benefits of endorsement
Schools and students will be confident that endorsed internal assessment:
- provides a suitable context for learners
- is accessible to learners
- meets subject-specific syllabus requirements for the assessment technique
- provides opportunity to collect valid evidence
- follows accepted assessment conventions
- is comparable across schools.
The endorsement process further refines teachers’ skills and abilities in quality assessment design.
Preparing for endorsement
QCAA supports schools to prepare for endorsement by providing information, guidance, training and resources including:
- online assessment literacy courses for teachers available in the QCAA Portal
- sample assessment instruments and assessment templates for teachers and schools to use as a guide when developing their own assessment instruments. These are available in the Syllabus application in the QCAA Portal
- establishing schedules, including turnaround times for schools to ensure all internal assessment instruments have been endorsed before they are administered with students
- recruiting and training QCAA assessors to support the endorsement process.
Schools may also review subject-specific historical data (on R3 and R6 forms) about assessment instruments to help prepare for endorsement.
More information
- Last updated:
- 24 April 2023
